Set pieces key to Brumbies snapping Super finals hoodoo
Three minutes to go before halftime, with scores level, in a do-or-die elimination final, Allan Alaalatoa took a gamble that a few years ago would've stunned rugby union devotees.
The ACT Brumbies had just won a penalty directly in front of the posts against the Hurricanes in their quarter-final clash at GIO Stadium on Saturday night.
But, presented with the opportunity to take a certain three points, the Brumbies captain decided to instead give his forward pack a crack at icing a riskier seven-pointer from a lineout.
"The last time we played, we got minimal opportunities down in our end-zone," Alaalatoa explained after the match.
"And I thought in finals footy, you might only get a handful, so I wanted to make every opportunity count. So that's where my head was at."
And it paid dividends.
After the Brumbies won a penalty from their initial lineout and rolled the dice once again, hooker Billy Pollard peeled off the blindside of a rolling maul and dived over the tryline.
But it's not so much a gamble as a calculated risk.
The Brumbies have scored more than 70 per cent of their tries this season from mauls or pick-and-drive sequences off the back of lineouts, converting about 40 per cent of their entries into the opposition 22 into tries. That compares with about an 85 per cent chance of flyhalf Noah Lolesio nailing a three-pointer with his boot.
Rule changes have made it harder for defending teams to prevent the tactic, with Super Rugby Pacific teams increasingly eschewing penalty shots at goal in favour of kicking for lineouts in the attacking 22 in recent years.
Captains also enjoy the added bonus of maintaining possession and field position, ramping up pressure on the opposition.
"There's lots of confidence in our maul, and then our pick-and-drive as well," Alaalatoa said.
"So it was more the fact that, yeah, we just wanted to take that opportunity and then keep them down their end as well."
Out of the five tries the Brumbies scored against the fourth-placed Hurricanes in their 35-28 win, four came from front-rowers off the back of mauls or pick-and-drives.
"I thought our forwards were outstanding in the first half there, both with some of the pick-and-go stuff and the maul," said Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham.
"A couple of maul tries tonight, which saps a lot of energy out of the forwards. They backed it up with some pick-and-go and then in the second half we opened the Hurricanes up in different ways.
"We're not experts in winning finals or anything like that, but we certainly feel that having a good set piece is going to go a long way to win those finals games."
The Brumbies' execution will need to be on point if they are to book a grand final ticket by beating the table-topping Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday.
No Australian side has ever won a knock-out game in New Zealand the almost 30-year history of Super Rugby and the Brumbies' last three seasons have ended in semi-final defeats across the ditch.
The Chiefs still see the value in taking penalty goals and every Brumbies indiscretion will be punished by the marksman boot of competition leading point-scorer Damian McKenzie.
McKenzie buried four three-pointers in his side's 20-19 loss the Blues on Saturday, with the Chiefs having scored 25 penalty goals this season to the Brumbies' 10.
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